


The Dissonance Between Us

by drakesandmarvel



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, I hope it's good, Inspired by SDTS' college AU, i will mention some of the events that happened in her fic, inspired by a song too, mentions of smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-14 11:05:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8011222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drakesandmarvel/pseuds/drakesandmarvel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice and her best friend Nate start college at the same university as Nate's brother and Alice's other best friend, Sam, whom she hasn't seen for two years. Will Sam & Alice's relationship take a new turn now that they're both in college?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Campus

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Clumsy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7774927) by [SDTS](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDTS/pseuds/SDTS). 



> Hey guys! So I was reading SDTS' "Clumsy" and I really enjoyed it so I started imagining what was happening with Sam when he wasn't hanging out with Rafe and it turned into a Sam x OC thing so there it is! I'd like to thank SDTS for letting me use her AU for this fic.  
> Hope you'll enjoy it, leave kudos & a comment if you do it means the world to me :)
> 
> PS: English isn't my first language so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes.

Ah, college. The beginning of adulthood. Alice had dreamed about it ever since middle school. She was already bored by the stupid subjects they forced her to take there and wanted more. At first, she thought high school would give her this ‘more’. More interesting classes, clubs, people...but in the end, it turned out to be just like middle school for the brunette. Classes were still boring as hell, she didn’t like any of the clubs she had at her school and the people...well, they were the same as in middle school, except older. And dumber. She hated most of them.  
Her only friends were two brothers called Samuel and Nathan. Samuel was two years older than Alice, but he’d been her best friend in the whole world. The two had a lot in common. They loved the same music, movies, shows, subjects… They spent almost all of their free time together until Sam had to leave for college to study history.   
Then, she was left with Nathan, his younger brother. Nathan and Alice were the same age, and had things in common, but not as much as Sam and she did. But they got along very well, like brother and sister, with a few arguments here and there that never lasted long. When they had to choose in which university they wanted to spend the next four years of their lives, their choice was obvious. They’d go to the same place as Sam. A good university, slightly remote from big cities. It was situated in the middle of the mountains and the forests and the closest town was about one hour away. Nathan chose to study history, just like his brother, and Alice settled for film studies, in the hopes of becoming either a writer or a director. Maybe even both, if she was lucky enough.

When Alice and Nathan got out of the bus that took them to campus, they immediately started looking for Sam. There were a lot of people around the bus, and it was difficult to find someone you hadn’t seen in two years in there. But when her eyes settled on a tall brown-haired boy with a cigarette in his mouth, she didn’t think twice about it and dropped her bags on the floor, running towards the boy. Once she got to him, her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck and her head was on his shoulder. Sam didn’t have time to see her properly, but he knew it was her.  
After he passed his cigarette to his brother, who had followed the girl, he held her close to him and buried his head in the crook of her neck, taking in her scent. It hadn’t changed much, she still smelled of Calvin Klein perfume and mint chewing gums, but the smell of cigarette smoke had been added to the mix. They stayed like that for a while, just holding on to each other without talking, until Nate cleared his throat to remind them of his presence. Sam let go of the brunette gently, a wide smile on his face. She took some time to take in his features.   
Sam had changed in the two years he was away from Alice. He was significantly taller, his hair was now slicked back, he was a little more muscular than before...and he was more attractive than he’d ever been. But then, Alice had changed as well. Her brown hair had turned into a dark maroon color, she had started smoking, had lost a few pounds and her olive skin was slightly darker than before. She had never looked better. 

“Good to see you there, kids.” Sam smiled, patting his brother’s shoulder.  
“Kids? You’re only two years older, poser.” Nathan said back, pulling the older sibling into a warm hug.  
“It’s good to see you too.” Alice said, taking her bags back in her hands. 

She looked around, and couldn’t help but smile. The place was absolutely beautiful. She felt Sam’s arm around her shoulders and turned her head to face him. 

“Pretty nice, huh?”  
“Yeah. Better than the view we had before, that’s for sure.” Nathan chuckled, Sam’s other arm around his shoulders as well.  
“How about I walk you to your dorms, you drop your bags and I show you around campus? That way we can catch up a little.” Sam offered, putting his cigarette back in his mouth.  
“Don’t we have to go to orientation or something?”   
“Nah. It’s tomorrow, anyway. So?” He smiled.  
“Fine by me.” Nathan shrugged and both brothers looked at Alice, waiting for her answer.  
“I’m in.” She nodded, and the three of them were on their way to the dorms.

The ten-minute walk to the dormitories was loud. Nate and Alice were updating Sam on their lives and high school, while he explained how great college life was. He talked about the crazy parties, the clubs, the classes, the teachers, the buildings...everything seemed amazing there. Alice couldn’t help but smile was she looked at Sam, who was saying how much he loved his studies and telling Nate all about them. She had rarely seen him that passionate and happy about something he did, and she felt the same happiness and enthusiasm about it all. She couldn’t wait to start her new life as a college student.  
Once they got to the dorm building, Alice took her key and was the first to discover her dorm room. It was alright, nothing too fancy, just the minimum. She noticed her roommate had arrived before her as there were bags on one of the beds. She took the other one by default and went back downstairs to see if Nathan was done as well. In the hall, Sam stood by the door, staring into nothing. Alice came behind him and gave him a scare. He turned around quickly, startled, and was met with a devilish laugh from Alice. 

“That was perfect.” She said, still laughing at his face.  
“You’re in so much trouble, Ali. I’m gonna get my revenge for that.”  
“Sure.” She said mockingly, before stepping outside and taking a cigarette out of her tote bag. She put it to her mouth and lit it, looking at the night sky. She heard Sam scoff behind her and turned around to face him. She raised an eyebrow as he stepped out to get right in front of her. “What is it?”  
“Before I left, you were always going on about how smoking was terrible. Look at you now. Funny how time changes the way you think.” He shrugged and smirked, taking the cigarette from between her lips and taking a drag off it. He looked straight into her eyes as he blew the smoke, watching as she grimaced when it hit her face.   
“Rude.” She groaned, making Sam chuckle. 

She took her cigarette back and turned her back to him, resuming her stargazing. She was almost hypnotized by the starry sky and didn’t notice how Sam was looking at her. He had missed her more than he would admit, and having her right in front of him was still surreal.  
Sam and Alice had always had an ambiguous relationship. Sometimes, when people saw the way they acted, talked and looked at each other, they’d think they were dating. The two always denied and brushed it off, but they both secretly thought about it. After all, they were the perfect match, they enjoyed pretty much the same things but still had those differences that made them so compatible. But even though they both wanted it, they never did anything remotely romantic together and dated other people.   
While looking at her, Sam thought about it again. It was a different situation now that they were in college. Maybe he’d find the courage to tell her how he felt. Maybe she’d say she feels the same and everything would be fine. Just as he was about to touch on the subject, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned his head to see Nathan, a wide smile on his face.

“What took you so long? And what’s with that stupid smile?” Sam asked his little brother.  
“Guess what?” Nate replied playfully, earning an intrigued look from Sam. “I talked to the very nice lady at the front desk and…”  
“What?”  
“I got us a room! Like, together!” Nathan said excitedly, which made Alice turn around.  
“So...we’re gonna be roommates?” Sam asked, a smile slowly forming on his face as Nate nodded quickly. “That’s awesome!” He laughed and took his brother in his arms, patting his back and then backing away to take a good look at him. “Let’s get going, I have a thousand things to show you. I hope you’re not too tired.” He looked at both Alice and Nathan, who just shrugged. 

During their little private tour of the campus, Sam showed Alice and Nate all of his favorite places. That went from the football field bleachers to the stairs of the library, through that one bench on a hill a little further away from the buildings, that overlooked the forest and the mountains. The visit lasted for about 3 hours, during which the trio spent a lot of time laughing and acting like they were the only ones on campus. It reminded them of those  moments they shared back in Boston, where they’d just sneak out at night and have fun in the streets, not doing anything in particular. It was those moments Alice had missed the most, and she was glad they could have all of this back here.  
When Sam was done with being the guide, they all said goodnight and went to their rooms, Sam taking his things from his dorm to the room he now shared with his brother. Alice went straight to her room and got to meet her roommate. It was a beautiful blonde girl named Elena, who studied journalism. It was her first year as well. The two girls spent some time getting to know each other and got along well pretty quickly.  
When she went to bed, Alice couldn’t help but think college was going to be the best part of her life. She was reunited with her best friend, she had an amazing roommate and was going to study the subject of her dreams. With these thoughts in mind, Alice went to bed, ready for her new life to finally start.


	2. Halloween

It had been two months since Alice had arrived on campus. She was used to college life now, often going out to parties and events with some of her friends from class. But she spent most of her time hanging out with Sam, catching up and talking a lot. Sometimes Nate and Sam’s friend Rafe would join in.   
Alice didn’t think Rafe liked her very much, but then she wondered if he liked anyone at all. The guy always acted entitled, superior or rude, except with Sam. Alice didn’t understand how that could even be possible, as Sam could be the most annoying guy in the world sometimes, but she was happy that he had found someone he could trust here and whom he had fun with. Even if that someone happened to be Rafe Adler.   
She was enjoying her time there so far, and thought it could only get better with time. 

Today was Halloween, and there was going to be a big event on campus that night. Three haunted houses, and a bunch of other fun and scary Halloween activities. Alice was in her room with her roommate, listening to some songs by Bastille while trying to figure out something for her first project of the year. Elena was reading silently on her bed, that’s why Alice was a little startled when she started talking.

“You going to the Halloween thing tonight?” She asked, putting her book down on the bed.   
“I don’t know yet. I’m waiting for Sam or Nate to text me. They always make things like that a little funnier.” Alice turned around on her chair to look at Elena. “You?”  
“Yeah, I think so. My friend wants me to go with her so…”  
“You gotta be the good friend.” Alice smiled before looking at her phone, which just buzzed. “Ah! Nate’s gonna go, Sam’s volunteering. Which means I’m going.”  
“Nathan’s gonna be there?” Elena asked, trying her best not to show she was actually really happy, which made Alice smirk.  
“Yep. Why do you ask?”   
“Oh. Just...you know, curiosity.”  
“Sure. Anyways, I gotta figure out what I’ll wear.” The brunette stood up and rummaged through her drawers to find a costume. “What are you going to be dressed as?”  
“I don’t know yet. I’m supposed to get ready with my friend so I guess I’ll figure it out with her.” Elena shrugged and smiled before going back to her reading.

A few hours later, Alice was finally ready and alone in her room. She was looking at herself in the mirror and fixing her costume. She went for a pirate costume, which came with a cool hat and a fake sword. When she was finally happy with the way she looked, she took her phone and headed out to meet up with Nate in front of the building. He was leaning against the wall next to the door, scribbling something in his notebook, when Alice arrived in the hall.

“What’re you sketching?” She asked, playing with the sword as he lifted his head and smiled.  
“Nothing particular.” He shrugged and looked at her closely. “Nice costume. Sam’s gonna love it.” He teased, which made Alice scoff. While Nate never commented on it, he noticed the way Alice and Sam were acting with each other.  
“Like I care. I chose that costume because it made me feel badass and confident, not because of what a guy might think of it.” She rolled her eyes before looking at Nate’s costume. He was wearing a henley with some mud stains on it, some jeans and what looked like worn down hiking shoes. On top of the henley, there was some kind of shoulder double holster and his hair was messier than usual. “What are you supposed to be?” She raised an eyebrow at him, which made him smile.  
“A modern, younger and better looking version of Indiana Jones. Or a male Lara Croft. Depends on how you wanna see it.” He explained, still smiling. “You like it?”  
“Yeah...sure. I mean, you could’ve gone for something a little more...I don’t know. Something better?” She said slowly, still inspecting his costume.  
“Okay, that hurt my feelings.”  
“I mean your Halloween costumes are always either super silly and fun or very well thought. This is just...meh.”  
“I don’t see anything ‘meh’ about Nathan Drake, adventurer, treasure hunter and overall badass person.” Nate said dramatically, closing his notebook in the process, which made Alice snort.  
“Yeah, whatever. Let’s just go, your brother’s probably waiting for us, mister cheap-ass Lara Croft.” 

And in a matter of minutes, Alice and Nate were at the Halloween event. There were a large part of the students from the campus, all dressed up and scaring each other. Most of them were queueing up for the three haunted houses, which were apparently so traumatising some students had to see a therapist afterwards. Alice was pretty sure most of those stories were made up and straight up bullshit to scare off freshmen, but she still wasn’t really keen on going inside them. She’d never been one to like anything related to horror. Plus she’d heard there was a very scary clown in one of them, along with some horrifying giant spiders, and since these things were two of her biggest fears, she’d happily pass.   
Once they’d spotted Sam and Rafe talking, Alice and Nate got closer to them. Nate just went to talk to them while Alice jumped on Sam’s back.

“Hey you! Nice catch.” She said happily before planting a kiss on his cheek. She felt Sam smile and looked over at Rafe, slightly waving her hand. “Hey Rafe.” She noticed his slight smirk and that’s when she saw the blonde girl who looked confused and was standing next to them. “Sorry, you are?”  
“Emily.” The girl answered sternly, staring at Alice with an eyebrow raised.  
“I’m Alice.”  
“Cool. I gotta go, my friend’s calling me.” She glanced over at Sam. “Bye.” And she left.  
“Okay, rude. Who was that?” Alice asked.  
“That was Sam’s plan for tonight.” Rafe said with a huge grin on his face, while Sam just sighed and made a face.  
“Oh.” 

Alice tried her best to stifle her laugh, along with Nate and Rafe, but soon they couldn’t hold it in any longer and bursted out in laughter together. Sam sighed again and rolled his eyes, annoyed by the fact that he’d probably have to chat up another girl. 

“I wish I could say I’m sorry but I’m really not, this was hilarious.”  
“Whatever. Would you get off my back? You’re kinda heavy.” Alice did as he asked and stood where the girl was. Sam looked at her and smiled at her costume. “You look...really good.”  
“Thanks!” She grinned before glancing over at Nate, who was smirking. She furrowed her brows at him and turned her attention back to Sam. “Okay, why are you not dressed up?”  
“I’m a volunteer, which means I’m not supposed to have fun and dress up.” He explained.  
“That sounds boring.” Alice commented.   
“Sam, I’m gonna walk for a bit.” Rafe told his friend, who nodded and took a cigarette out discreetly.  
“Okay. Don’t get lost.” Rafe just glared at him for a second before leaving without another word.   
“I don’t like him.” Nate said very seriously to his brother.  
“I know, you say it about 5 times a day, I think I get it now.” Sam took a drag off his cigarette and looked at his brother. “I’m not asking you to be friends with him anyways. You don’t have to hang out around him if you don’t want to.”   
“I know that, thanks, I just...I don’t trust him, that’s all.” Nate shrugged and went back to doodling in his notebook.  
“Okay! How about we lighten up the mood a little and, I don’t know, go play some games or pranks or...just get our hands on a bottle of...anything, really.” Alice said happily.  
“I like how you think, Ali.” Sam commented.

Just as they were about to go look for someone who had alcohol, Alice saw Elena walking towards them. She looked a little shy and nervous but also sorta excited, which made Ali smile fondly. She really liked Elena, and the fact that she had a crush on her best friend, who happened to have a crush on her, made her extremely happy. She had decided from the day Nate had told her he liked Elena that the two were going to end up together and be the cutest couple on campus.

“Hey, Elena!” Alice went to hug her roommate and Nathan’s head went from his notebook to the blonde girl. “It’s good to see you here, really. You already know Nate but I don’t know if you met Sam.”   
“Hi.” Sam waved and took another drag off his cigarette, a slight smile on his face. He understood what Alice was trying to do and found it endearing. “I’m Nate’s brother.”  
“Hi! Alice told me about you, and I think Nate mentioned you once or twice.” Elena looked at Nate very quickly, turning her eyes away when she saw that he was staring at her. Alice smiled as the blonde girl’s cheeks went from a pale pink to an intense red.  
“Sam and I were about to get something to drink, why don’t you guys just…stay here and talk for a while? We’ll be right back.” Alice grabbed Sam’s arm and turned away, ignoring Nate’s protests. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be left alone with Elena, it’s more that he was way too nervous to talk to her right now. “Have fun!”

Alice and Sam finally found what they were looking for near one of the haunted houses. Some guy was selling bottles of alcohol, so they bought one of vodka, the cheapest he had. They played a few of the games here and there, stopping in between the stands to take a few sips off their bottle. Two hours later, the party was at its peak and Alice was drunk, talking and laughing loudly, standing next to Sam, who was only a little tipsy. 

“Hey, you’re volunteering! You’re not supposed to have fun, remember?” Alice said as Sam reached for the bottle in her hand.  
“Why are you telling me that now? I already drank a little, come on.”  
“Well no more drinking for you Drake. You gotta stay normal.” 

Alice took another sip and started walking towards a group of students. Sam just sighed and leaned on a tree a few meters away from them. He pulled out another cigarette when the girl from earlier, Emily, started flirting with him again, leading him further away from the crowd as time passed. Fifteen minutes later and they were making out against another tree, Sam’s fingers tangled in her hair and her hands on his belt. When he pulled away to catch his breath, he noticed Alice not too far away from them. She seemed to be flirting heavily with a guy Sam and the other students only knew too well. He pushed Emily off him and walked towards his best friend, his fists clenched, ready to punch the guy if he needed to. Once he got next to Alice, he grabbed her by her waist and led her away from the other guy, who tried to put up a fight.

“Sam! I’ve been looking for you.” Alice said happily, letting Sam take her away.  
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, bro?”  
“I’m getting my best friend away from you, got a problem with that?”  
“Yeah bro, I was about to score with your friend here so go away before I get real angry!”  
“She’s fucking drunk! I’m not letting you take advantage of her.”  
“Oh come on, don’t tell me you believe those sluts who said-”  
“Shut the fuck up and let us go.” Sam said through clenched teeth.   
“What are you gonna do, huh?”

And that’s when Sam lost his cool. He let go of Alice and punched the other guy in the face twice, which was enough to make him run away with blood dripping out of his nose. He went back to his friend, who looked a little dazed.

“You okay?” Sam asked, visibly worried.  
“Yeah…”  
“Did he do anything to you?”  
“No…why did you do that?”  
“Listen, this guy is dangerous okay? He’s been accused of sexual assault by several other girls and...he usually acts on drunk freshmen so...I just wanted you to be safe. Plus I really wanted to punch him, he’s a scumbag and I don’t understand how he’s still out there.”  
“Oh. Shit, thanks.” Alice hugged Sam tightly and smiled, before leading him to a bench closer to the rest of the people.

They sat close to one of the haunted houses, where Nate and Elena were, looking like they were having a good time too.

“They’re so cuuuute. Like, the cutest.” Alice commented. “I bet you they’ll be together by Christmas.”   
“I don’t think so. What do you bet?”  
“Hmm...40 dollars.”  
“That’s it?” Sam laughed.  
“Okay! 40 dollars plus my vinyl collection.”  
“If Nate and Elena are not together by Christmas, you’ll give me 40 dollars and your amazing vinyl collection. If you win, though, I’ll give you 40 dollars and...60 dollars worth of top quality pot. We have a deal?” Alice nodded and Sam smiled, tapping her hand.  
“I’m already regretting this bet.”  
“You going chicken shit on me now?”  
“No! I’m not backing out. It’s just...usually when I make drunk bets I tend to lose them and some of my most prized possessions as well.”  
“Oh yeah, I have some of your rarest comic books and many limited edition DVDs of your favorite movies to attest of that.” Sam teased, a smirk on his lips.  
“Shut up. I’m still not over the fact that I lost them forever.” Alice looked down before shooting her head up, a grin on her face. “Okay, I changed my mind. If I win, you give me 40 dollars and you’ll have to give me back my comics and my DVDs.”  
“Those were not the terms we agreed on.”  
“Come oooon, Sam. Do you really want to spend 60 dollars on some top quality weed you won’t be able to enjoy? At all?” Alice pouted and settled her head on his shoulder, giving him a look to convince him.  
“Fine! You got me. We have a deal.”  
“Yes!” She laughed before an uneasy feeling took over her. “Oh..crap. I’m gonna puke.”  
“Shit.” Sam stood up and help the brunette up, leading her towards some bushes, where she emptied the contents of her stomach. He held her hair and rubbed her back to make her feel a little better, until she went back up. “You okay?”  
“I feel like shit, but I’m fine. I just wanna sleep.”  
“Here, let me help you.” He took her arm to keep her steady and ended up carrying her bridal style to her dorm room.

He cleaned her up and started to undress her, setting her down on her bed. She let him strip her down to her underwear, looking at him intently as he helped her put on the large t-shirt she used as pajamas. He tucked her in bed and planted a kiss on her forehead, before turning around to leave. She grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around again.

“Thank you Sam.” Her voice was slightly hoarse and she sounded tired, but she still had a small smile on her face, which made Sam’s heart flutter.  
“It’s alright. You don’t have to thank me.” He gave her a kind smile and sat next to her, knowing that she wanted him to stay until she fell asleep, like they used to do in Boston.  
“I do though. You’re such an amazing guy, and I feel like I spend too much time calling you names for fun and laughing at you when I should be complimenting you and reminding you how good a friend you are.”  
“Don’t worry about it. I know the name calling is your way of showing people you like them. Go to sleep.”   
“You know Sam, I feel like I don't appreciate you enough. I mean...you matter a lot to me, like a lot, but I don't tell you that enough. I really care about you. A lot more than I say.” 

Sam just stayed there, not knowing what to do or say, examining her face. He pressed a long and caring kiss on her cheek and softly stroked her hair. 

“It's okay. Have a good night, Ali.” He whispered.  
“Night Sam.”

Alice closed her eyes and immediately drifted to sleep. Sam stood up and quietly exited the room, slightly taken aback by her words. Once in the hallway, he found himself face to face with Elena. 

“I just put her to bed, she was drunk. Could you please check on her when she wakes up? Make sure she doesn't die from her hangover, and all that.” He said with a soft smile that Elena returned.   
“Sure. Good night.” 

Sam just walked down the hall and up the stairs to the room he shared with his brother, a small smile on his face as Alice’s words kept ringing in his head.


End file.
